Closing the Gap: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Research and Education for Digital Libraries

Two major themes continue to be a subject of discussion when dealing with digital libraries: how should the education programs in LIS (Library and Information Science) schools be changed or updated in order to provide the needed knowledge (skills ?) for librarians in the digital age and, closely related, how could the three major memory institutions (libraries, archives and museums) define common educational curricula for professionals in the three domains, now that the digital age is blurring the boundaries between the three profession. In this paper we will present some considerations about the first topic, in order to share the experience gained through the organization and the participation in five events, having as theme the educational needs of the new librarians and the possible synergies of research and education in the field of digital libraries. It is hoped that it can serve as a further stimulus for discussions and for the definition of possible common actions in the digital libraries community.